EXAM 2 STUDY TOPICS LIST AND ANSWERS
1: Ted Talks
Stress
Power Posing
Procrastination
2: Health Psychology
3: Stress vs. stressor vs. stress response
Stress: Interpretation of specific events called stressors as threatening or challenging
Stressor: Objective events/triggers
Stress response: Physical and psychological reactions to stress
4: Perception of resources: “I don’t know if I have the resources to face this”
5: Can good things be stressors?: YES.
6: Life changes: Any life change that requires some adjustment in behavior or lifestyle can
cause some degree stress
a: Social Readjustment Rating Scale: A list of what is considered to be the most
stressful things that could happen in someone’s life according to the amount of life
change it involves, including a rating of each of those
7: Cataclysmic Events: Strong stressors that occur suddenly and typically affect many people
simultaneously (natural disasters, plane crashes, terrorist attacks, etc.)
8: Acute Stress: Stress beginning shortly after an overwhelming traumatic event and lasting
less than a month
9: Chronic Stress: Continuous state of arousal in which demands are perceived as greater
than the inner and outer resources - BAD
a: Social Lives: Pressure, fear of judgement, demands/expectations, balance, priorities,
FOMO, caring about others’ opinions
b: Job Stress: Change in job, negative environment, unemployment, etc. (leaders have
more control and often less stress)
c: Hassles: Can add up and form a source of chronic stress, could be more significant
than major life events (the “little things”)
d: Self-Imposed Stress
10: Conflicts: Forced to make a choice between at least two incompatible alternatives
a: Approach-approach: Forced choice between two “good” options
b: Avoidance-avoidance: Forced choice between two “bad” options
c: Approach-avoidance: Forced choice within one option
11: Effects of stress
a: General Adaptation Syndrome
i: Alarm (fight or flight, tend or befriend)
ii: Resistance – arousal higher than normal, stress hormone, coping mechanisms
iii: Exhaustion – more susceptible to illness, body shuts down immune system
, b: The stress response
i: Cerebral cortex interprets stressor
ii: Hypothalamus activates SAM system and HPA axis to increase arousal/energy
levels to deal with stress
1: SAM = Sympatho-Adreno-Medullary – rapid-acting stress response
with sympathetic nervous system and adrenal medulla, releases
norepinephrine and epinephrine, increases heart rate/blood
pressure/respiration/muscle tensions, decreases digestion
2: HPA = Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenocortical – delayed stress
response with hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal cortex, releases
cortisol and increases metabolism/blood sugar to increase energy
iii: Stress removed, cortisol signals brain to shut down fight or flight of SAM and
HPA chemicals are sent to pituitary to restore body to baseline state of
homeostasis
c: Burnout
d: Frustration
e: Cortisol: Helps deal with immediate dangers, mobilizes energy resources, long-term
exposure can permanently damage cells in hippocampus so it can no longer send
proper feedback to hypothalamus which causes it to continue to be secreted;
suppresses immune system if levels stay high
f: Gastric Ulcers: lesions in stomach lining, people who live in stressful situations have
higher risk of ulcers, bacterium causes ulcers but only in people who are stressed
g: Cancer – does not cause*: Chronic stress suppresses the immune system; stress
does not cause cancer but increases spread of cancer cells to other organs
h: Cardiovascular disorders: Cortisol and adrenaline increase trigger heart rate
increase as well as fat and glucose release, designed to take physical fight or flight and
if not taken, fat will not be burned and will adhere to blood vessel walls; fatty deposits
mean blood supply blockage and can lead to heart attacks
i: PTSD: Trauma- and stressor-related disorder from directly or indirectly experiencing
actual or threatened danger
j: Antidote to stress?
12: Coping with Stress
a: Problem-focused coping: Deal directly with a stressor to decrease or eliminate it
(“fix the problem”)
b: Emotion-focused coping: Relieve or regulate emotional reactions and impacts of
stressful situation (“silver lining”) – need to be fairly accurate and not distort reality
c: Defense mechanism: Freud’s description of strategy ego uses to protect from
anxiety, distort reality and may increase self-deception, can be beneficial or destructive,
examples include denial (destructive), sublimation (beneficial), and projection
d: Sense of personal control
i: Internal locus of control: Master of your own fate, find positive ways to cope
with situations
ii: External locus of control: Life and fate is controlled by chance or outside
forces, less likely to make effective/positive changes and more likely to
experience higher stress levels
13: Sensation vs. Perception
a: Sensation = process of detecting, converting, and transmitting raw sensory
information, cannot be controlled; bottom-up
1: Ted Talks
Stress
Power Posing
Procrastination
2: Health Psychology
3: Stress vs. stressor vs. stress response
Stress: Interpretation of specific events called stressors as threatening or challenging
Stressor: Objective events/triggers
Stress response: Physical and psychological reactions to stress
4: Perception of resources: “I don’t know if I have the resources to face this”
5: Can good things be stressors?: YES.
6: Life changes: Any life change that requires some adjustment in behavior or lifestyle can
cause some degree stress
a: Social Readjustment Rating Scale: A list of what is considered to be the most
stressful things that could happen in someone’s life according to the amount of life
change it involves, including a rating of each of those
7: Cataclysmic Events: Strong stressors that occur suddenly and typically affect many people
simultaneously (natural disasters, plane crashes, terrorist attacks, etc.)
8: Acute Stress: Stress beginning shortly after an overwhelming traumatic event and lasting
less than a month
9: Chronic Stress: Continuous state of arousal in which demands are perceived as greater
than the inner and outer resources - BAD
a: Social Lives: Pressure, fear of judgement, demands/expectations, balance, priorities,
FOMO, caring about others’ opinions
b: Job Stress: Change in job, negative environment, unemployment, etc. (leaders have
more control and often less stress)
c: Hassles: Can add up and form a source of chronic stress, could be more significant
than major life events (the “little things”)
d: Self-Imposed Stress
10: Conflicts: Forced to make a choice between at least two incompatible alternatives
a: Approach-approach: Forced choice between two “good” options
b: Avoidance-avoidance: Forced choice between two “bad” options
c: Approach-avoidance: Forced choice within one option
11: Effects of stress
a: General Adaptation Syndrome
i: Alarm (fight or flight, tend or befriend)
ii: Resistance – arousal higher than normal, stress hormone, coping mechanisms
iii: Exhaustion – more susceptible to illness, body shuts down immune system
, b: The stress response
i: Cerebral cortex interprets stressor
ii: Hypothalamus activates SAM system and HPA axis to increase arousal/energy
levels to deal with stress
1: SAM = Sympatho-Adreno-Medullary – rapid-acting stress response
with sympathetic nervous system and adrenal medulla, releases
norepinephrine and epinephrine, increases heart rate/blood
pressure/respiration/muscle tensions, decreases digestion
2: HPA = Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenocortical – delayed stress
response with hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal cortex, releases
cortisol and increases metabolism/blood sugar to increase energy
iii: Stress removed, cortisol signals brain to shut down fight or flight of SAM and
HPA chemicals are sent to pituitary to restore body to baseline state of
homeostasis
c: Burnout
d: Frustration
e: Cortisol: Helps deal with immediate dangers, mobilizes energy resources, long-term
exposure can permanently damage cells in hippocampus so it can no longer send
proper feedback to hypothalamus which causes it to continue to be secreted;
suppresses immune system if levels stay high
f: Gastric Ulcers: lesions in stomach lining, people who live in stressful situations have
higher risk of ulcers, bacterium causes ulcers but only in people who are stressed
g: Cancer – does not cause*: Chronic stress suppresses the immune system; stress
does not cause cancer but increases spread of cancer cells to other organs
h: Cardiovascular disorders: Cortisol and adrenaline increase trigger heart rate
increase as well as fat and glucose release, designed to take physical fight or flight and
if not taken, fat will not be burned and will adhere to blood vessel walls; fatty deposits
mean blood supply blockage and can lead to heart attacks
i: PTSD: Trauma- and stressor-related disorder from directly or indirectly experiencing
actual or threatened danger
j: Antidote to stress?
12: Coping with Stress
a: Problem-focused coping: Deal directly with a stressor to decrease or eliminate it
(“fix the problem”)
b: Emotion-focused coping: Relieve or regulate emotional reactions and impacts of
stressful situation (“silver lining”) – need to be fairly accurate and not distort reality
c: Defense mechanism: Freud’s description of strategy ego uses to protect from
anxiety, distort reality and may increase self-deception, can be beneficial or destructive,
examples include denial (destructive), sublimation (beneficial), and projection
d: Sense of personal control
i: Internal locus of control: Master of your own fate, find positive ways to cope
with situations
ii: External locus of control: Life and fate is controlled by chance or outside
forces, less likely to make effective/positive changes and more likely to
experience higher stress levels
13: Sensation vs. Perception
a: Sensation = process of detecting, converting, and transmitting raw sensory
information, cannot be controlled; bottom-up
